Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for controlling an induction heating system, particularly an induction heating system of a cooktop on which a cooking utensil with a food contents is placed for heating/cooking purposes.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for estimating the temperature of a cooking utensil placed on the cooktop and the temperature of the food contained therein, as well as the food mass.
Description of the Related Art
With the term “heating system” we mean not only the induction heating system with induction coil, the driving circuit thereof and the glass ceramic plate or the like on which the cooking utensil is placed, but also the cooking utensil itself, the food contents thereof and any element or component of the system. As a matter of fact, in induction heating systems it is almost impossible to make a distinction between the heating element on one side, and the cooking utensil on the other side, since the cooking utensil itself is an active part of the heating process.
The increasing needs of cooktops performances in food preparation are reflected in the way technology is changing in order to meet customer's requirements. Technical solutions related to the evaluation of the cooking utensil or “pot” temperature derivative are known from EP-A-1732357 and EP-A-1420613, but none of them discloses a quantitative estimation of the pot temperature.
Technical solutions related to the evaluation of the cooking utensil or “pot” temperature are known from European Patent Application No. 08170518, now EP Patent Publication 2194756 which has a common assignee with the present application and is incorporated herein by reference, but these solutions need a temperature measurement.
Other technical solutions related to the evaluation of the cooking utensil or “pot” temperature are known from the EP 2194756 of the same applicant, which shows how the method tunes the model during the entire process, on the basis of data collected during the cooking phase. Moreover, the algorithms used for the approach proposed by EP 2194756 need a large computational effort due the fact that they continuously compensate throughout the entire cooking process (i.e., closed loop system). As a result of this, there is no compensation on the initial uncertainties of the system temperatures (e.g., pot, food, water, glass, etc. temperatures).